Thursday, May 04, 2017

Waters, rain force access restrictions at Niagara County parks

OLCOTT -- High waters and rains have undermined the ground at two popular Niagara County parks, forcing officials to restrict public access to portions of both until further notice.

In Olcott, a bank slide along Lake Ontario has forced the County Parks Department to seal off access to a stretch of lakeside land with snow-fence barriers today, Commissioner of Public Works Garret A. Meal said.

Meal also has posted signs barring access to a popular hiking trail at the Royalton Ravine county park after soil erosion caused a staircase there to fail. The signage is posted at the trailhead.

Meal briefed Legislator John Syracuse, R-Newfane, who chairs the County Legislature's Infrastructure and Facilities Committee, about the condition of the parks late today.

"I've asked Garret to take steps to warn the public about potential danger at these sites, and to take precautionary measures to restrict access to potentially dangerous areas," Syracuse said today from Newfane. "We want to see the public regain full access to our wonderful parks system, but this occurs against the backdrop of a State of Emergency we declared two weeks ago, so we're asking people to take extra care when they visit our parks, and to pay heed to the notices we're posting."

Niagara County government will notify the public when these areas are reopened.